James J. Strang was a somewhat of an ordinary man
born in 1813, of a respectable family. He had little formal education;
but, was able through self-study to become a lawyer of some distinction.
His normal life was turned around after he became convinced of the truth of
Mormonism in 1844, was baptized and confirmed by Joseph Smith, and ordained an
elder under the hands of Hyrum Smith. On June 27, 1844, he claimed to have
been ordained under the hands of angels to the same office of Apostle, Prophet,
and Lawgiver held by Joseph. On July 9, 1844, he received the official
Letter of Appointment from Joseph--written in accordance with the laws of God that had already
been given. This was the first news of the death of Joseph. Under command of God, he gathered those saints who understood
the law of God to Voree, near Burlington, Wisconsin. His life was meager
at best. In 1850, God declared Beaver Island as a stake of Zion; and the gathering place for the saints.
They endured the most terrible persecutions from the whiskey traders in
Mackinac. James and many saints were arrested, detained in Detroit, and
found innocent of all charges. The continued strife that existed due to
the devout life style of the Strangites ended in the assassination of James on
June 16, 1856. He died on July 9, 1856.

James was born
on
March 21, 1813
, in
Scipio
,
New York
.In his Autobiography,
he wrote, “My parentage was
decidedly respectable.”He
described his childhood as “painful,
and at this day I am utterly unable to comprehend the feeling of those who look
back with pleasure on their infancy, and regret the rapid passing away of
childhood… I learn from many sources that in childhood I exhibited
extraordinary mental imbecility.”

In 1816, his
family moved to
Hanover
,
New York
; where they remained for twenty years.“There
I grew up, and around that place cluster nearly all the recollections, pleasant
and painful, of my childhood and youth.”He attended grade school until he was twelve years old, “but
the terms were usually short… I estimate my attendance during the whole period
as equal to six month’s steady attendance with health for study.”

Those
associated with James were evidently unable to recognize the genius that lay
just under the surface.Strang’s
mental abilities, at an early age, are evident from his Autobiography.He recalled “my
mother carrying me in her arms, nursing me, and conversing with her sister about
me.”He recalled, from the
age of seventeen months, his father’s residence “so
perfectly in memory that after twenty year’s absence I was able to recognize
the location in riding through.”Even
as an infant he pondered questions that adults could not understand.“My mind wandered
over fields that old men shrink from, seeking rest and finding none till
darkness gathered thick around and I burst into tears and cried aloud, and with
a voice scarcely able to articulate told my mother that my head ached.”

Although
lacking in formal education, James continued an exhaustive self-study program.He was admitted as a competent lawyer to the bar at age twenty-three.James became a postmaster, lawyer, editor, and publisher.On
November 20, 1836
, he married Mary Perce, the daughter of a Baptist minister.They had four children:Myraette,
Mary, William, and Hattie.In 1843,
he moved with his family to
Burlington
,
Wisconsin
, and started practicing law.

His life was
turned about in early 1844.His
brother-in-law, Benjamin, joined the Mormon Church.Moses Smith, a highly respected member of the church, visited
Burlington
.The extreme interest generated by
this visit caused him to return with Aaron Smith on foot some 400 miles in the
middle of winter, in February, 1844, to
Nauvoo
,
Illinois
--the gathering place of the Mormons.

On February 25,
he was baptized by water and the Spirit by Joseph Smith.On March 3, he was ordained an Elder by Hyrum Smith, brother of Joseph
and Patriarch to the church.As
Hyrum laid his hands upon James’ head, he prophesied, “I
perceive by the spirit which is within me that thou shalt carry the gospel with
the Spirit like flaming fire to many nations and by thee shall God save the pure
of his people.”

Joseph gave
James a charge to search out the land around
Burlington
. James wrote a report on the area; and mailed it to Joseph on May 24.He suggested the area around
Burlington
for a Stake of the church; because of its climate, water supply, farm land,
manufacturing potential, and availability to the
Great Lakes
.His answer was written on June
18—the day Joseph appointed him to be the next Prophet and head of the people,
in accordance with the laws of God.“4 But verily, verily, I say unto you, that none
else shall be appointed unto this gift except it be through him; for if it be
taken from him he shall not have power except to appoint another in his stead. 5
And this shall be a law unto you.” (Doctrine
and Covenants, Sec. 43)On
this same day James received a vision in which he saw the area as a thriving
community and himself at some future time, “surrounded
by wise men and counselors and priests and eloquent orators.”

On
June 27, 1844
, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered in Carthage Jail; while under
the protective custody of the Governor of Illinois.At the same hour, some 400 miles away, in
Burlington
,
Wisconsin
, James claimed to have been ordained under the hands of angels as an Apostle,
Prophet, and Lawgiver--as Joseph’s successor.For almost two weeks James taught of this appointment, without any
knowledge of the death of Joseph.

The letter of
appointment arrived in
Burlington
on
July 9, 1844
, in which Joseph prophesied of his coming death and appointed James as his
successor.Thus began the difficult
and trying work of James the Apostle, Prophet, Lawgiver, Seer, Revelator, and
Translator like unto Moses.

From 1844,
until 1850, James worked to gather the saints to the new Stake of Zion called
Voree—near
Burlington
.Interpreted, Voree, means “
Garden
of
Peace
.”The saints who gathered to
Voree were promised by God “if
they will diligently serve me, and give heed unto all my words,” not to
be persecuted.Although they were
not persecuted by the Gentiles in Voree, they faced considerable dissension from
the followers of Brigham Young and others from among their own ranks.

When the people failed to abide by the commandments to
gather and be as one, and to build the
Tower
of
Strength
and
Temple
, the gathering was moved by commandment of God to
Beaver
Island
in northern
Lake Michigan
.James, with four other saints,
first investigated
Beaver
Island
in 1847.“They
tell us that Strang's object in pretending to be a prophet is, to live at his
ease, upon the luxuries of the earth. They talk to us of his being rich,
&c., &c. Talk not thus to me. I happen to be somewhat acquainted with
the gent. And I am well persuaded from personal acquaintance that few men live
poorer or endure more privations and hardships than this same Mormon prophet
does. And that too without the least murmur or complaint. Well do I remember of
this reputed rich man making a breakfast of cold water and bread, and that mixed
up by uninitiated hands, and baked before a fire out of doors. And, to use a com­mon
expression, would make good whetstones. And after having taken off the only pair
of pants that he had, and mending them for half or three-fourths of an hour,
then starting in company with myself for the purpose of ex­ploring the Island.

"It
was through beech forests and cedar swamps, and cedar swamps and beech forests
again that we traveled. Thus we traveled until near night, when we started for
home. I soon became quite weary, but still pressed onward. Night soon overtook
us, when, although a young man just in the prime of life, I rolled down in the
sand and boldly avowed that I could go no further. So we encamped for the night,
without either dinner or supper, fire or cover other than the broad canopy of
the heav­ens.

"Here
we lay until some time past midnight, when I was laying awake
nearly stiff with the cold, I was saluted with the well known voice of the
prophet inquiring if I was not sufficiently rested so that I could proceed. I
replied that there was but two alternatives, to either go or freeze. So on we
went, and arrived at the cabin about sun rise. We eat the last bread we had for
breakfast, making about half a meal. All this did the prophet unmurmuringly
submit to, for not a syllable of complaint did I hear from him. You may inquire
why it was that we had no more to eat. It was ear­ly in the spring, and there
had not as yet any provisions arrived. Consequently all on the Island were just out, and there was
none here to be had.

“The
foregoing I have merely given for the information of those who suppose that the
prophet lives at his ease, and upon the fat of the land, being furnished by his
followers with an overabundance of everything to insure his comfort and ease;
hoping at the same time that those who are disposed when they arrive here now,
under ten times as disparaging circum­stances, yet found murmuring and
complaining, may derive some valuable hints therefrom.­--Could they but have
been here from the start, and continued until now, they would be ready to
exclaim:­--

Life on
Beaver
Island
was an almost continual harassment by excommunicated Mormons and Gentiles
alike.Opposition against the
Mormons was centered in Mackinac.The
fire of persecution was kept burning by the illegal Indian whiskey trade.The Light House and Post Office was called Whiskey Point.The ruffians, mostly Irish fishermen, gathered there to replenish their
supply of whiskey.They gathered and
continually harassed the saints.The
saints were met with abusive language and physical violence every time they went
to pick up their mail.James noted, “No
fact can be more certain than that throughout the United States there is no legal protection
to a Mormon.” (Northern Islander,
April 13, 1851).

A new persecution began under the leadership of the
O’Malley clique with the aid of Sheriff Granger of
Mackinac
County
.Criminal warrants were issued
against thirty-eight of the saints.To
serve these warrants the Sheriff used, “a
posse of 30 intoxicated Indians and eight or ten drunken Irishmen armed with
guns.”The villainous story
is told in the
May 1, 1851
, Northern Islander.

The dire condition of the saints is exemplified in the
Northern Islander of
April 3, 1851
.“Mr.
Strang and various others, including all the principal men among the Mormons,
live in the continual consciousness that there are men around them seeking their
lives; and that, should they be killed, the murderers would never be brought to
justice by the authorities of the State.”

The persecutors of Mackinac swore not to rest until
all the Mormons were either driven from the island, or destroyed.To affect this horrible act, they invented various charges by which they
could have the men on the island taken to
Detroit
for trial.About 100 men and women
were involved in the trial, which lasted over six weeks; and included the most
grievous charges.The story from the
July 24, 1851
, Northern Islander follows.

“IMPRISONMENT
OF THE PROPHET,

AND
MANY OF THE SAINTS.

“On the 24th day of May last the U. S.
war steamer Michigan, with a large number of civilians and a full compliment of
men and arms, came into this place charged with the duty of arresting the
prophet and some thirty of the saints, who were accused of every crime known to
the laws of the Union, from treason to building a camp fire on a naked beach,
with sticks of dry wood which grew on Congress land.

“Disappointed at meeting with no resistance, and
finding no hostile array, they finally determined on taking nobody but James J.
Strang, Joseph Ketcham, Finley Page, and William Townsend. Mr. Strang became
bail for four others, and all the rest were discharged.

“At Detroit, where the prisoners were
taken, fourteen bills of indictment were found against Mr. Strang, and thirty
persons in all were indicted.The
proceedings were kept up incessantly until the 8th of July, when a
verdict was rendered in favor of thirteen defendants, and they were discharged.
This decision also discharged ten others, who had not been taken into custody,
and in effect overthrows the whole prosecution.

“Pending these proceedings sixteen others were
arrested and taken to Mackinac, charged with murder, whose only fault was
assisting an officer in the execution of process in a case of violent and
dangerous resistance, and under the imperative direction of the law officer of
the State.—Fourteen of these are yet (July 23d) in custody, but it is thought
they will soon be discharged.

“Several other arrests have been made on various
pretences, but in every case the parties have been set free. During these
proceedings the policy has been openly avowed, by our enemies, of continuing the
arrests, until they took off all the men, and then to drive off and destroy
their families. But this attempt has signally failed.We are rapidly returning, while others of our brethren are gathering up,
and the legal redress which we shall seek for these wrongs will tend to scatter
our enemies, or gather them to their appropriate resting place at Jackson.

“In the whole course of this persecution, with
perjury and falsehood without stint against us, no one has been found guilty of
an offence, even on the showing of the prosecution. Generally, the defendants
have introduced no witnesses, and in no case was it necessary in order to their
acquittal.

“These prosecutions have been carried on with the
purpose (in many cases avowed) of destroying the settlement here, but we shall
outlive them all, and live to remember the authors of them.—The Lord reward
them according to their works.

“The government has expended more money in this
attempt to crush this infant settlement than the whole of BeaverIsland would sell for.In some countries governments are instituted for the protection of the
weak.We have even heard old people
say that such purposes were once entertained in the United States, but we do not ourselves
recollect the fact.We are inclined,
however, to credit it; for we found in Detroit a righteous Judge, but he was appointed to office so
long ago that we cannot remember his patron.”

“MORMON
PERSECUTION.

“We are gratified in being enabled to announce a
verdict of acquittal in the United States District Court, of all the defendants.We had feared that such would not be the result, notwithstanding our
entire confidence in their innocence. The labored efforts made the Advertiser
clique, in Detroit, to convict the defendants
in advance of the trial, we had feared would have been felt in the jury box.

“The jury, we learn, was composed of ten Whigs and two Democrats,
from which we infer the result to be anything but gratifying to those who have
attempted to enlist the elements of political warfare for the purpose of
convicting men innocent of the crime alleged against them.

“The Free
Press of the 10th inst. reads the Advertiser
a beautiful homily upon the impropriety of lending itself to such ‘base uses
as manufacturing through its columns public opinion, to be felt in the jury
box.’We perfectly agree with the Free
Press in the moral sought to be inculcated; and cannot forebear entering our
solemn protest against the employment of branded and convicted felons with
promises of reward, to hunt out and report the moral delinquencies of our fellow
citizens, and by their own [?] to bring down their victims to a level with
themselves.—St. Clair Observer.

“The trial of King Strang and other Mormons, in the U. S. Court, in Detroit, for obstructing the mail,
&c., has been concluded—verdict of the Jury, not
guilty.

“While we have no doubt this verdict, by an honest
jury, is justified by the evidence in the case, and in strict keeping with every
principle of right and justice, it could not have been otherwise than positively
mortifying to the Detroit Advertiser.That paper with a great flourish of trumpets, heralded the departure of
District Attorney Bates and Marshall Knox, with the U. S. war steamer to Beaver
Island, to arrest Strang and his party—gave its own one-sided and bitterly
prejudiced version of the affair, and to complete the matter, actually
pre-judged the case and condemned the parties unheard—a step grossly abusing
the license of the press, and for which no excuse can be offered. Nor did the Advertiser
stop here.Thwarted in its
designs to wreak vengeance on the Mormons by the verdict of an intelligent jury,
it barely attacks the District Judge by insinuating that this verdict was
rendered because of instructions by the court.Verily, this is a poor subterfuge to escape the indignation every man
must feel for the unprecedented and unjustifiable course of the Advertiser.It is a hard lesson—may it not be in vain.—Mich.State
Journal.”

With the saints having no representation under the
law, James won a seat on the 1853 Michigan State Legislature.He served two terms.The Detroit
Advertiser, on
Feb. 10, 1853
, wrote of James, “Mr.
Strang’s course as a member of the present Legislature, has disarmed much of
the prejudices which have previously surrounded him. Whatever may be said or
thought of the peculiar sect of which he is the local head, I take pleasure in
stating that throughout this session he has conducted himself with the degree of
decorum and propriety which have been equaled by his industry, sagacity, good
temper, apparent regard for the true interests of the people, and the
obligations of his official oath.”--Detroit
Advertiser, Feb. 10, 1853

As the numbers of saints grew, the animosity of the
citizens of Mackinac against the Mormons grew even stronger.Through a dismemberment of
Emmet
County
, including
Beaver
Island
, the saints were left without any protection under the law.The Northern Islander of
June 5, 1856
, included a testimony against the persecutions, which the Mormons had faced
without resistance, since the church was first organized in 1830.In this dialogue it was noted:“We
have not been suffered to live with other men. Shall we not be permitted to live
alone? God made the earth for all men. Of the vast all he has given us a few
little islands. They are the work of his hands; not man's. Why should man sell
God's work?

“For
nine years our communities have dwelt here in peace among themselves. The few
small schisms which have arisen, have yielded to the ordinary course of
discipline, and the wrong doers have either amended or departed from among us,
doing us very little injury, except as they were abetted by public officers,
religious boobies, the newspaper press, and bands of lawless men. Yet we are
pursued from day to day with continual threatening. An effort is continually
made to convince us that we are to have no rest forever.

“Three
times have we fled before our persecutors, because we would not repel injuries
by force. We understand by the word of God that it is our duty to flee no
further. We do not learn from the divine writings that it is our duty never to
resist evil deeds.—The time has come when forbearance is no longer a virtue.

“While
men around us have for years threatened us with fire and blood, and we only
asked legal justice, they have been continually commended for the forbearance,
and we continually menaced with invasions, expatiation and death.

“We
have ceased to take to ourselves any trouble about these matters. We have known
for years what our persecutors seem so anxious to impress upon us, that, when
the public vengeance is waked up the law will not protect us and that among an
angry people innocence is no shield.

“We
do not expect Governor or President to protect us against mobs. We live in the
continual assurance that any one of us might be murdered in a neighboring
county, and not a magistrate could be induced to issue process against the
murderer.

“Yet
we trust in God. We walk in conscious security. We laugh in bitter scorn at all
these threats. And we tell these wolf hounds, marshal your myrmidons, and send
them along, to make a spoil of beauty and booty, as soon as you please. We bid
them a bloody welcome to hospitable graves; over which, each year, we will pile
stones, with a muttered curse, against the day of the resurrection of damnation.

“We
will neither purchase temporary peace and future calamities by dishonorable
trafficking with political jugglers, nor will we yield our homes to enemies. If
we live, here will we live. If we die, here will we die, and here shall our
bones be buried, expecting in the resurrection of the just to possess the land
forever, and dwell with the righteous during the lifetime of the Eternal.

“God
judge between us and all men.”

On
June 16, 1856
, the US Steamer Michigan docked at
Beaver
Island
.With the help of Capt. McBlair,
two apostate Mormons mortally wounded James.This black day in the history of freedom was remembered by Apostle Warren
Post (included in James the Martyred Prophet).He was taken home to his parent’s
home where he died on July 9, 1856.

In 1855, James
began an Autobiography; but, it was
never completed.The manuscript is
among the Strang Manuscripts in Yale University Library, Section A, page 1.

“I was born March 21st, 1813, on Poppe Ridge road, town
of Scipio, Cayuga county, New York.My infancy was a period of continual sickness and extreme suffering, and
I have understood that at one time I was so low as to be thought dead, and that
preparations were made for my burial.All
my early recollections are painful, and at this day I am utterly unable to
comprehend the feeling of those who look back with pleasure on their infancy,
and regret the rapid passing away of childhood.Till I had children of my own, happy in their infantile gambols, the
recollection of those days produced a kind of creeping sensation akin to terror.

“My parentage was decidedly respectable.My father is a descendant of Henry de l’Estrange, who accompanied the
Duke of York to the new world to conquer the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, now
the State of New York, and the family has ever since retained an honorable rank,
and is now scattered over nearly all the States, and branches of it are found in
British America and the West Indies.

“Tradition says they originally settled at New
Utrecht, on Long Island, but Henry de l’Estrange,
before his death, removed to the town of Rye, Westchester County, New York, where some of his
descendants remained till since 1840.

“Tradition also says that my great-grandfather
accompanied the first English expedition to Michilimackinac, during which he
contracted a dangerous sickness, that he was sent back for medical treatment,
and died on the way from the residence of Sir William Johnson to Albany..

"He left two sons, William and Gabriel, who were
brought up among their mother’s relatives, and by that means became separated
from the family.They settle at a
very early period at Stillwater, in Saratoga County, New York, and were lost sight of by
the Strangs in the south part of New York, and on numerous
genealogical trees found in that country the limb breaks off with their names.

“My father, Clement Strang, is the fifth son of
Gabriel Strang.Coming
originally of a Norman stock who have continually intermarried with the Dutch
and German families of the Hudson, he partakes (as I do) more
of the German type than any other.Counting
continually in the male line for ten generations back, our ancestors are Jews,
but so large is the admixture of other blood that the Semitic type seems to be
quite lost.

“My mother is of the purest Yankee stock from Rhode
Island, her father, Jesse James, and her grandfather, James James, having left
there about the time of her birth, and settled in Greenfield, Saratoga County,
New York,where they died full of
years and honors.

“My father and mother are yet living (1855), with a
reasonable prospect that they may remain many years.They are both small of stature, my father being only five feet three or
four inches, and mother less; of comely appearance, amiable, affectionate,
charitable, remarkably industrious, skillful in labor and judicious in business,
and unsullied moral and religious character.I have a brother, David Strang, two years older than myself, and a
sister, Myraette Loser, five years younger, and it is a great pleasure to know
that there has never been a disagreement to amount to so much as a momentary
coldness between any two members of the family.

“I learn from many sources that in childhood I
exhibited extraordinary mental imbecility.Indeed,
if I may credit what is told me on the subject, all who knew me, except my
parents, thought me scarcely more than idiotic.Several facts remain in my recollection which support this opinion.I well recollect that school teachers not unfrequently turned me off with
little or no attention, as though I was too stupid to learn and too dull to feel
neglect, and my school fellows did not forget to add their plight.

“I doubt not my appearance at least justified this
opinion.I remember myself as little
disposed to play, seldom cheerful, and scarcely ever taking the slightest
interest in the plays ofothers.Long weary days I sat upon the floor, thinking, thinking, thinking!Occasionally asking a strange, uninfantile question and never getting an
answer.My mind wandered over fields
that old men shrink from, seeking rest and finding none till darkness gathered
thick around and I burst into tears and cried aloud, and with a voice scarcely
able to articulate told my mother that my head ached.

“During the first and part of the secondyear of my life my father’s residence was in that part of Scipio now
included in Ledyard.He left for
Manlius in August, 1815, when I was about seventeen months old, and with a
singular tenacity of memory I kept that place so perfectly in memory that after
twenty years’ absence I was able to recognize the location in riding through.

“To the present time the recollections of my mother
carrying me in her arms, nursing me, and conversing with her sister about me,
and of the road along which they walked, and the work going on by the roadside,
is as distinct as the events of yesterday.It
is the brightest of the few bright spots of may childhood, the only recollection
of long years not accompanied with a sensation of pain.

“Until 1816 my parents remained in Manlius, my
father carrying on the farm of Mr. Fleming, an extensive farmer from Maryland, who also kept a very
popular tavern on the Great Western turnpike.I have very few recollections of that period beyond an ill-defined but
strong attachment to several members of his family and several of the colored
people he brought there, and none of them in forty years, and none of them in
thirty-two.Such are the affections
of childhood; at least, they are such with me.

“In February, 1816, my father removed with his
family to Hanover, Chautauqua County, New York, where he remained twenty
years.His first location was two
miles northeast of Forestville, and three-fourths of a mile from Walnut Creek,
on the east side of the road, at the four corners, but a few years of the latter
portion of that period we lived on Walnut Creek flats, in the same neighborhood.

“There I grew up, and around that place cluster
nearly all the recollections, pleasant and painful, of my childhood and youth.

“On our journey I remember Buffalo as a small,
straggling village of thirty or forty houses, occupied as taverns and drinking
shops; so crowded that it was a matter of favor to get entertainment; where the
same low, open, filthy room was used for barrom, dining room and kitchen, and a
few hours the latter part of the night accommodated as many drawy, drunken and
tired sleepers as could lie down upon the floor.

“From Buffalo we went to the mouth of Cattaraugus Creek on the ice.Father was heavy loaded and obliged to travel slow.There had been a day or two of mild weather; the snow was melted on the
ice and had already thawed many a treacherous opening, and covered with water as
the ice was, it was difficult for a stranger to keep the way over the thirty
miles of dreary waste of ice without a landmark.

“To secure a passage by daylight father got a man
who was going with a two-horse sleigh and no load but his wife to take my mother
and her two children as far as Cattaraugus.I only remember that the water sometimes came into the sleigh box, that
the driver frequently jumped the horses across wide chasms in the ice, and
sometimes found them so wide that he dare not cross them and went great
distances around, and that my mother was terribly frightened, and hugged my
brother and I to her with an almost suffocating grasp.

“I have since I was grown up frequently heard her
speak of that passage as having terrified her almost to distraction, a terror
much heightened by the continual quarrels and mutual profanity of the couple
with whom we rode.

“We lost sight of father immediately after starting,
and next saw him at Mack’s tavern, Cattaraugus.The wind got into the northwest the afternoon of the day we started, and
towards night one of the worst snowstorms of that latitude came on, obliterating
in a few minutes every vestige of track onthe
ice, filling the air so that a man could not see the length of sled and team,
and rendering it utterly impossible to keep a course even for a few rods.

“This storm overtook father midway in the lake,
about twenty miles above Buffalo.What he suffered and how he survived none can know, only those who have
experienced a similar catastrophe.

“I only remember that my mother cried incessantly,
and ever and anon clasped my brother and myself convulsively in her arms, till
three days passed, when he came to us as one from the dead.Several reports of his death had reached us, some by persons who had seen
his frozen body.Whether some
persons had really perished and been mistaken for him, or the reports were
wholly false, I do not know, but the former is probable.

“From Cattaraugus to my father’s place in the same
town was then two day’s travel, though on an air line not six miles.the route was by SheridanCenter and Forestville.

“I attended school the following summer where the
most moderate qualifications for teaching were satisfactory.there were but two scholars who knew the alphabet, and none who spelled
“easy words of two syllables.”

“From this time till I was twelve years old I
attended district school more or less every year, but the terms were usually
short, the teachers inexperienced and ill qualified to teach, and my health such
as to preclude attentive study or steady attendance.I estimate my attendance during the whole period as equal to six
months’ steady attendance with health for study.

“My
parents had good government.Their
family were raised without beating.I
can remember being very slightly whipped by my father twice and my mother once.My sister was raised twice and my mother once.My sister was raised without ever suffering chastisement either at home
or in school, and my brother’s fortune——[Here the writing ends as if the
writer had been disturbed, and never afterward had opportunity to resume the
work.]" (The Strang Manuscripts, Section A, page 1 -8)

A most interesting description of the personal characteristics of James comes
from a Phrenological Description of James J. Strang, as given by S. R. Wells on Sept. 11, 1846; and published in the Nov. 22, 1849, issue of the Gospel
Herald (Vol. 4, No. 36, p. 185/773).

“Your
brain is quite large, full as much as you have physical power to sustain. Your
mental temperament predominates, giving you a desire to exercise your brain more
than your body, and hence will be liable to exhaust your strength, unless you
take especial care of your health. You have more energy and activity of
character than power of endurance. You have strong attachments to friends and
home, yet you are fond of traveling for the sake of seeing the world and gaining
knowledge. You are fond of variety and change. It is difficult for you to keep
your mind on one thing long at once, but it flies from one thing to another
without waiting to finish up a subject. Thus giving you versatility of talent,
which enables you to attend to a variety of things without confusion.

“It
would be well if you had more of this quality of mind in order to connect and
com­plete your thoughts more perfectly. All your feelings are positive. You are
never half way, but either the one thing or the other. You should be known among
your acquaintances for your energy and perseverance, so long as you are engaged
in a cause. You are never lazy, but on the contrary are apt to work too hard.
You have been thrown upon your own resources, I should judge, and hence have
cultivated force of character. You have a great deal of the feeling of
resistance; are very fond of debate; like to take up on the opposite side for
the sake of argument, if it does not come in your way otherwise, but you could
not take pleasure in being unkind or injuring the feelings of another. It would
be far more natural for you to relieve pain than to create it. You have less
stern execut­iveness than spirit and courage.

“Your
appetite is not extravagant, yet quite strong enough for your digestive
apparatus. You should not use stimulus of any kind, as you are already too
excitable, and they would only increase it. You are very sensitive to the
opinions of others--cannot bear blame, par­ticularly from your friends--have a
high sense of honor, a good deal of independence, love of liberty, and
self-respect. You are very tenacious and unyielding in your views and opin­ions,
after you have once decided in your own mind. You are anxious to do right and to
know the truth, and then hold fast. It is easy to persuade you, but you will not
be driven by anyone. You have not a miserly disposition, but want property for
what it will accomplish; not to hoard up. You are frank and open hearted in the
expression of your feelings--say just what you think--are sometimes too plain
and blunt in your remarks, though this tendency of mind is modified by your
ability to judge of the character and motives of others and adapt yourself to
their peculiarities.

“Should
you undertake to play the hypocrite, “lay low and keep dark," you would
very soon expose yourself in some way, for you have not tact and cunning enough
to enable you to carry it out into any great speculation or enter­prise. Yet at
the same time you are impulsive, and inclined to act upon the spur of the mo­ment.
It is well that you have cautiousness so strongly developed in order to guard
your impulsiveness. You are very much inclined to think and investigate for
yourself, and form your own opinions--are quite radical in your notions, slow to
believe, unless you think you have good witness. You respect persons in
proportion as their conduct and talent merit it, rather than on account of
wealth, station or title.

“You
have some reverence for sacred things, but are not particularly devotional. You
are not extravagant in your anticipation, but gen­erally realize more than you
expected. You have very strong sympathies and desire to do good, and spread
happiness not only around you, but on a more extensive scale, so that it may
reach all human beings. You may feel a good deal of indignation for a time, but
it would be contrary to your nature to be cruel or revengeful. Your principles
are averse to war. You would do all your fighting with your tongue and pen. It
is hard for you to say "no," even when your judgment would dictate it,
especially if a friend should ask a favor. You are fond of children or pets; are
warm-hearted and ardent in your social feel­ings, fond of home and the social
circle. You are not wanting in refinement of feelings, yet have not a very
brilliant imagination. You appreciate the grand and sublime more than the merely
beautiful. You can adapt your­self very well to the manners and customs of
others, yet you have a character peculiar to yourself rather than copied from
others. You have a very quick perception of the absurd and ridiculous--can enjoy
jokes much, but yours are apt to be sarcastic. You could ridicule to pretty good
advantage, if you should allow yourself to do so. You have better mechanical
judgment than ability to execute--are not so skillful in the use of tools as
many. You have a good memory of places, faces, forms and outlines, ideas and
general events, but poor of details and particulars, and also of col­ors. You
are very neat and systematic. You have a comprehensive mind--are capable of
thinking and reasoning closely and clearly, and are very good at drawing
inferences. You are more theoretical than practical. You need to cultivate the
perceptive faculties in order to balance the reflections. You identify things
better than you remember them. You have more ideas than capacity to communicate
what you know. Your temperament is such as to make you talk rapidly, especially
when ex­cited, but you have not that full, free, copious command of language
that would do justice to your thoughts.

“In
summing up your character I should say that the strong points were activity,
energy, excitability, love of home and friends, fondness for debate,
watchfulness and regard for consequences, sensitiveness and love of approbation,
independence and will, love of liberty, perse­verance, sense of moral
obligation, great kindness and sympathy of feelings, powers of sarcasm, ability
to understand and reason, mem­ory of faces and places, love of order, judg­ment
of the character and motives of others, and a faculty to win confidence and
adapt your­self to circumstances. The greatest deficiency in your organization
are want of strength and power of endurance, too much change and vari­ety of
thoughts, too little economy and tact, a want of spirituality of mind and
devotional feeling, and rather a poor memory of particu­lars. You are apt to be
more injudicious in your expressions than actions. You have greater love for
music than ability to execute. You should take particular care of your health,
exercise enough, but guard against excesses of all kind.

“>>We
publish the foregoing to gratify many friends. It is not improper to add that
Mr. Wells did not know whom he was exam­ining until he had completed his work,
and was not a little surprised on learning the name of his subject. The brothers
Fowler separately reviewed the examination, and to the cred­it of the three
Professors their results, were precisely alike. As Pres. Strang is now in the
eastern States he will doubtless procure a re-examination to learn what change
three years has made in his organization.”

James J. Strang was honored
both by saints and enemies for his impeccable character.In one of his revelations, the Lord declared him “more
patient than Job, and meeker than Moses”

John Greenhow, President of
the High Priest’s Quorum, wrote, “With
regard to our beloved prophet, he already triumphs over all his enemies; and
whilst the enemies of God and all righteousness are lifting up their puny arms
in rebellion, I assure you that it only excites his pity. Such
a man (I was going to say) as Collins Pemberton does exist, who was very anxious
to be known, and therefore adopted his present course, and I have taken some
pains that he should be known.The
character of President Strang is far above their reach, and I have all
confidence in him; and no one has had a better opportunity of judging his
character, both public and private, than myself, for I had the happiness of
living several weeks in the same house with him, and it was seldom indeed that
his labors ceased before two or three o’clock in the morning, and he was
invariably up before day-light, and laboring through wet and dry for the support
of his family till dark, and then commenced his writing again to YOU.While I am on this subject I hope I may be excused if I make you
acquainted with one secret, that in paying for letters, finding paper, and many
other trifling expenses, which I could enumerate, his family have been deprived
of the comforts which you enjoy.I
say no more on this subject, but pray that you may long enjoy the comforts of
this life, and in the world to come life everlasting.I do verily know that God is with him, and committed a dispensation unto
him.He has labored faithfully and
diligently to accomplish the work which our God has given him to do.” (Zion’s Reveille, Vol. 2, No. 4, p. 15/67)

“THE
TOUR.--Pres. Strang left Voree June 8th, to visit the east­ern churches.
He way absent eight weeks, and in that time trav­eled 3,860 miles, principally
by steamboat and rail road, and occa­sionally by stages and on foot; attended
five Conferences; preach­ed 81 sermons: laid the foundation of the Indian
mission house; spent a fortnight in a most minute survey of Beaver Islands, and
visited nearly all the principal places between Wisconsin and the Hudson river,
and many of the principal men; and has made con­verts to the cause and friends
to himself wherever he went. He has so arranged that the mission house will
progress to completion this season. And to secure to the settlers the advantages
of trade and commerce, he has also arranged with capitalists engaged in the lake
trade to have a steamboat of staunch construction at Beaver to make trips
regularly to the various ports in the north part of lake Michigan; by means of
which Beaver harbor will become the center of trade for an extensive region.”
(Zion’s Reveille, Vol. 2, No. 22, p.
91/143)

“Pres.
James J. Strang, since his appointment to the prophetic of­fice, (by Pres. J.
Smith,) has proved himself to be one of the most laborious, self‑denying,
persevering men that the people of this the nineteenth century ever witnessed,
to lay before the church hisclaims to the Presidency and to reform its
character.

“Pres.
Strang has labored by day and by night in extreme poverty, and it is not saying
too much to say in hunger and rags, to redeem the church from apostacy
and destruction. The fact is, there is now no excuse for any person (that
has had the opportunity of reading the ‘Voree Herald’ and ‘Zion's Reveille’ for doubting
or caviling any longer on the question. Who is the true President of the
church?” (John E. Page, Pres. of the Twelve and the Presidents of the
Seventies, Zion’s Reveille, Vol. 2,
No. 23, p.96/148)

“A
MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM FOR OUR PRIVATE LETTER WRITERS TO ANSWER:‑-Suppose
Mr. A. [James] is an officer in a church or a stake in which the interest of
that community is, in a greater or less degree, invested; then suppose Mr. A.
should receive four letters every day for one year, from private letter writers,
and each of them required an answer immediately, and each answer would require
three pages of common paper, price of paper one cent per sheet, and then add to
that the probable expense of quills, ink and wafers; and then add to the bill of
expenses one dollar per day for the time of writing‑-what would be the
amount of the whole expense of Mr. A. for one year for letter writing in
answering private correspondents? Four let­ters per day, 1,460 letters; each
letter three pages of foolscap, 12 pages per day, 4,380 pages per year; price of
paper per year, $14,60; one dollar per day for writing $365,00.

Then
consider Mr. A. [James] has no salary for his official services, and as for his
private estate he has neither lands, houses, cattle, herd or money
at interest, or on hand. After you have solved thee above complex problem
then answer the most difficult question of all‑-how is Mr. A. to support
himself and family, when his wife wants a dress or a pair of shoes or any other
article common for life, or when his children cry for bread, how is he to obtain
it for them? What a fine thing it would be if Mr. A. could shoulder the whole
world and carry them all to heaven on his own expense entire‑-yes,
verily!” (John E. Page, Zion’s
Reveille, Vol. 2, No. 25, p. 104/156)

“HERE
WE ARE.

“Yes,
here we are, seated in a rough board shanty only twelve feet square, and that
set in a hole dug in the ground for the want of means to make a warm house above
ground. And who cares any thing about that? O, no body, as we know of. Our
Savior said, when he lived among the proud and covetous on this
earth, "that he had not WHERE to lay his head." Ho also
said, "the servant should not be above his Lord." Jesus says
again, "except a man deny himself, and take up his cross daily, he cannot
be my disciple."--­How thrilling the thought, that men, belonging to the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who profess to believe in the
Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the word of God given through his prophets Joseph
Smith and James J. Strang, which all go to confirm the doctrinal fact that the
generation has now come that shall not all pass away before the Lord of glory
shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire and burn up all the proud, the
covetous idol­aters, and all that do wickedly, with all of these unbelieving
and equally disobedient offsprings, that there shall not be left of them root
or branch to encumber the heritage of God.

“With
these facts so plainly delineated before the eyes of men, and clear as
language can make them, yet there are some on whom a kind providence has
lavished more than a mere competence of this world's goods, who will quietly
look on and leave the faithful, tried servants of God to live on less and
coarser fare than what their horses or cattle do. If this was not a fact
we would not say it, and was it not for the cause of God and his eternal truth's
sake we would not say it at all. Oh! false hearted! Oh! hypocrite! Oh!
idolater!How do you expect to escape the damnation of HELL!

“We
realize the importance of our calling and station in this last dispensation, in
which God has placed us, and not ourselves.--­There are many no doubt who are
still following the old fashioned custom of the world of by-gone time, which is
to lay up in store a goodly supply for posterity to enjoy when you are dead and
gone. ­But let me tell you in great plainness that the time is near at hand
that it shall be with you and your posterity as it was to the antedi­luvians
when Noah had finished the ark and himself, wife and chil­dren had entered into
it and God shut them in, only this difference, your destruction will be by fire
sent down from heaven, while their (the antediluvians) was by water, What
then will avail all the accumulated wealth of the wicked who withhold their
substance from the servants of God, who are called to build a place of
deliverance for the righteous, viz., Mount Zion, according to the word of Cod.

“We
are often asked the question, brother Page, when are you go­ing out to preach
again? In point of strength and constitution of body we are about 331/3 percent,
when compared with most other men who engage in common labor for a living; that
is to say,in six days we can earn the wages of two days work, which is
about $1,50. When, by this scanty income, I call supply my wife and children
with dally bread and can lay up in store enough for them to subsist upon a few
weeks in my absence, if God please, we shall then go out, and tell the church
and the world to repent of all their ungodliness, worldly lush, and
COVETOUSNESS, WHICH is IDOLATRY. Besides the above, my wife must have a pair of
shoes so that she can go to meeting, for at present she cannot for the want of
them; and more, my children must have somc winter clothes and shoes that they
may go to school, and especially to our Sunday school taught by Pres. Strang. Ah
! that is the place for our chil­dren to unlearn sectarian thinkso's, maybeso's,
&c., and learn the knowledge of things as they are. Now, reader, draw your
own conclusion when we shall go out to preach. If we should realize any thing at
any time from any person to assist us in this matter why we should go the
sooner, if not we shall go when it is consistent, for then it will become an
imperative duty, and there we have it. This we have written not for the sake
of yourself alone, but for all the well tried and faithful elders in the
church who have given them­selves entirely to the ministry for a series of
years, and are worthy of the confidence of all good people, and especially the
saints.

“God
bless the rich and poor who labor for Zion.

“JOHN E. PAGE.”

(Gospel
Herald, Vol. 2, No. 37, p. 114/166)

“PRESIDENT
STRANG.

“Ye
SAINTS! how long shall it be so! that a man of the TALENT, INTELLECT, HIGH and
HOLY calling of Pres. JAMES J.STRANG, with all the care and well being
of the church of God on his hands, and the responsibility of editing the Gospel
Herald, and the greatest share of the matter it contains originates with him. I
ask, how long shall he be left to do that which, in the business of life, could
be done by a mere dolt, whose talents are not adequate to any high­er business
than to carry stone in a basket to wait on a mason in the repairing of Pres.
Strang's dwelling house. With my own eyes I witnessed this thing done by the
person of Pres. Strang. Who does not know that if Pres. Strang had means to pay
a common la­borer for doing that business, at the simple pittance of 50 or 75
cts. per day, that he would do in the same time with his pen a thousand times
more good for the church and the world. Ye rich! suppose you try the
experiment of sending him some of your V's, X'sand C's, if you please,
and then patiently wait the Lord's time and seewhat will be your reward
in the

kingdom of God. As the Lord liveth, you
will rejoice for so doing in the day of the coming of the Lord to sever the
wicked from among the just.

“JOHN
E. PAGE.” (Gospel Herald, Vol. 2,
No. 37, p. 167/219)

“Nor
do I press this matter with so much earnestness from any egotism of success.
True, with all my friends, I expect to suc­ceed entirely. But our confidence is
in the cause, not in the man. The same would be expected of any of the Elders,
who is able to make himself understood. I possess no one advantage over the
common mass of my countrymen, except the intrinsic merit of the cause I have
espoused. Born of poor parentage, raised on the very borders of civilization,
suffering with debilitating disease from in­fancy, I had a most indifferent
opportunity of obtaining even a com­mon school education. I have neither had
the benefit of a private tutor, nor attended school one week since I was fifteen
years of age. I have never known one day of health since I was born; and at the
age of thirty-five find the weakness of youth and the decrepitude of old age
meeting in me. Yet in this cause I feel myself able to endure all things, and
the thought of failure never enters my heart. I seek the encounter, knowing that
among my friends the most flat­tering success is but barely what they would
expect of any one, and will bring with it no honor; and that the slightest
failure would bring with it the most overwhelming disgrace.” (Gospel
Herald, Vol. 3, No. 98, p. 182/494)

“Now,
brother, imagine that the prophet is sitting down by your side before your warm
fire, and as the rich bounties of earth come on your table your wife and
yourself viewith each other in excu­ses because it is no better. As you
gather round the table, why does he yet linger at the fire? Do you know he has
no over coat? not a shred of flannel about him? wears a summer vest? and both
coat and pants are half worn? that he wears a straw hat at mid­winter? And he
has been a prey to rheumatism for years. Well, let him warm by the fire. This is
all the clothing he has. But do not help him to more; for if you do as soon as
he gets home he will divide with his brethren of the Order of Enoch, who are as
bad off as he is. Give him nothing but water to drink. It is so long since he
has drank anything else, he might not know what it was. Give him neither cakes,
pies or sweet meats. He will remember in bitterness that his children at home
can have none.” (Gospel Herald, Vol.
3, No. 105, p. 219/531)

“STRANG,
about midnight, July 4th, started for Bea­verIsland on his sixth trip, and third
for this season. His labors are so onerous that he was obliged to continue his
toils till that hour, and then travel twenty-seven miles to take the morning
boat. Indeed, for some months he has not slept in a bed two nights in a week.
Yet, except a slight attack of bronchitis, his health is ex­cellent.” (Gospel
Herald, Vol. 4, No. 321, p. 76/664)

“As
to the question of morals I am prepared to justify it. And upon any question of
morals, until the law interposes, I have a right to judge for myself. Though I
acknowledge myself amenable to public opinion, I shall not answer at the bar of
men who avail themselves of every opportunity to corrupt a neighbor’s wife or
prostitute his daughter. I never did such a deed, and never stepped my foot
inside a house of ill fame. Doubtless there are men who think those venial
offences, and mine mortal. On the other hand I think mine no offence at all, and
theirs very abominable—destructive of peace and life. If I am in error, I err
with Patriarchs, Prophets and Apostles.” (James J. Strang, Northern
Islander, Vol. 5, No. 80, p. 234)

“Camp of
Israel—Twelvites--Rigdonites and Voree Mormons.--We stated yesterday that the emigrating Mormons had
assumed the cognomen of the “Camp of Israel”, which we are informed includes
the awful corrupt “Twelve,” the “Danites”, the “Destroying Angels,”
and most of the “bogus makers,” “Thieves,” “assassins,”
“police,” and “vulgar herd,” of that strange people.Fromthe best information we
can obtain, and we have taken some pains, they are as corrupt a set of “land
pirates” as ever disgraced the earth; though they are much to be pitied on
account of the suffering women and children, who are emigrating with them.The poverty and actual suffering of these poor creatures are enough to
sicken the heart of all feeling persons, while it should satisfy all who have
comfortable raiment, and a sufficiency of food, with their condition in life,
and learn them “to be therewith content.”The people of Illinois have determined that all the
Mormons, of every clique shall leave the State.There arenow three principal
cliques of Mormons - 1st. The “Twelveites,” who are moving off somewhere to
the west, with the most corrupt, abandoned, licentious, low and groveling
portion of the church, now called the “Camp of Israel.”2d. The “Rigdonites” who are locating their “Zion” near Chambersburgh, Pennsylvania.They include in their number, it is said, many excellent men and
estimable citizens, who left the Twelveites in consequence of their “spiritual
wife doctrine” and other abominations.3rd.The “Voree Mormons” who acknowledge James J. Strang, Esq., as
their prophet.--This portion of the church is evidently the most orderly and
law-abiding, and includes most of the talent and virtue of that people.They are rapidly increasing in numbers, and most of the churches out of
Nauvoo have declared for “Strang and Voree;” and “Voree, Wisconsin”, is to be the “great
gathering place” of the sincere and virtuous portion of the
“Latter Day Saints.”—OhioUnion.”
(Northern Islander, Vol. 5, No. 68, p.
188)